


It

by orphan_account



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-26
Updated: 2013-02-26
Packaged: 2017-12-03 17:49:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/700988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was just a normal day, when Tony walked in to the kitchen, and saw it sitting on the counter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It was two weeks after the whole Manhattan debacle, and Tony was still having issues sleeping. This morning was better, but not great. He rolled out of bed at 7:45-which, when you're used to getting up at 12:00 pm is way too early. After a quick look beside him to find Pepper in her spot, Tony deduced that it was Saturday or Sunday, unless a random holiday had happened.

After realizing that he wasn't going back to sleep, he decided his lab was the best place to spend his time, just as soon as he had coffee.

He stumbled out of bed and down the two flights of stairs to the common floor, which held the main kitchen.

Repairs hadn't taken long at all, mainly thanks to the demi god and super soldier that decided to help. The Avengers had moved in to their own floors, and everyone seemed to be getting along fine.

Tony finally ended up in the kitchen. He knew Steve would be awake, but that he'd still be in the gym, which meant that it was up to Tony to make coffee. He was halfway to the coffee machine when he noticed that something was off. That's when he turned slightly, and saw it.

It was sitting there, calm as anything on the kitchen counter.

He knew rationally what it was, and that it wouldn't hurt him. Probably. Still, the only thought that popped into his head was that Pepper needed to know.

So Tony ran form the room, all the way up the stairs and to the end of the hall, bursting through the door.

* * *

Pepper had been in the middle of a great dream. She and Tony were in a beach side cabana in Hawaii, and the fun was just starting when a loud noise startled her awake. She sat up and looked at the door, where she found Tony. Upon closer inspection, she found that he was hyperventilating.

"Tony?" She asked, slightly worried.  
"Pepper, you need to help me."  
"What's going on, Tony?"  
"I was going to make coffee, and I turned and saw it on the counter. I don't know what to do."  
"What is it, Tony?"  
"Just, please come look."

Pepper sighed but got out of bed anyway. She pulled on her sweatshirt to cover the think shirt she'd worn to bed.

"Hurry up, Pep."  
"Tony. Please shut up."  
Tony nodded and grabbed her wrist, tugging her down the stairs. He continued pulling her wrist until they were in the kitchen, and Tony pointed to it.

"See?"  
"Tony." Pepper chuckled.  
"Does it belong to one of the employees?"  
"Tony, stop talking. And it's not an it, it's a kid."  
"Why are you acting like it's normal to find kids in our kitchen?!"  
"Tony, stop talking."

Once he'd quieted down, Pepper made her way closer to the little girl, doing her best to make her presence known.

When she was face to face with the child, she smiled. The little girl looked up from the paper she'd been coloring on, and Pepper was met with the bluest eyes she'd ever seen. As she continued to look at them, she saw flecks of silver in the deep blue irises. Her eyes, combined with her waist length, wavy, dirty blonde hair made the little girl absolutely beautiful.

"Hi." Pepper whispered.  
"Hi." She whispered back.  
"What's your name?"  
"Sapphie. I have 'nother name, but I don't like it. It's too long."  
"Hi, Sapphie. My name's Pepper."  
"That's a silly name."  
"I have another name too, but I don't like it much either."

The little girl simply nodded, and continued to look at Pepper.

"Sapphie?"  
"Yes?"  
"Can I ask you some questions?"  
"Sure."  
"Ok. What's your favorite color?"  
"Blue. But green's good too. But not pink. I hate pink."  
"I don't like pink either. Ok, next question. What's your favorite animal?"  
"Pandas."  
"They're cute. Polar bears are my favorite. How old are you?"  
"4."  
Pepper nodded. "Last one, who are your parents?"  
"I'm not 'posed to say."  
"What? Why?"  
"Mommy and Daddy telled me not to say."  
Pepper nodded again. Before she could speak, she heard footsteps hurrying to the kitchen. A second later, Natasha Romanoff burst into the room.

"Saph, there you are!" She approached the child and lifted her into her arms. She turned her head slightly so her mouth wasn't next to the little girl's ear, and yelled. "Clint! I found her."  
Moments later, Clint Barton came running in. he made his way quickly to Natasha's side, and pressed a kiss to the child's head.

It was then that the assassins noticed that there were other people in the kitchen.

"Oh, Pepper, Stark. Sorry. I didn't see you there."  
"It's fine, Natasha. I was just introducing myself to Sapphie. Do you know her?"  
"Umm…" Natasha looked at Clint, and he nodded. Natasha turned back to Pepper and answered.  
"Yeah. Sapphire is our daughter."


	2. Chapter 2

Pepper and Tony were shocked, that much was obvious.

Natasha ignored them as they processed the information. She placed Sapphie back on the counter and admired the picture her daughter showed her. Clint went about getting food ready stopping every so often to tug on one of Sapphie's perfect ringlets.

"I'm sorry," Tony choked out. "Did you just say that she is your daughter?"  
Before Natasha or Clint could answer, Steve walked into the kitchen, slightly sweaty from his morning workout. He took two steps into the kitchen before his eyes landed on Sapphie.

"Hey guys- whoa. Whose is that?"  
Natasha smiled slightly. "She's mine and Clint's."  
"Oh. Wait, what?"  
Natasha sighed and looked at Clint again. When he nodded slightly Natasha turned back to the other people in the kitchen.

"Go sit in the living room. We'll get Bruce and then we'll tell you everything."  
They looked at her skeptically, but followed her directions.

"JARVIS, please have Dr. Banner come to the common living room."  
"Right away, Agent Romanoff." The British voice answered.

Clint picked Sapphie up off the counter and settled her on his hip as they made their way to the living room. Natasha sat on the last empty couch, and Clint and Sapphie sat next to her.

Tony and Pepper were on the other couch while Steve sat on the hearth. Everyone was giving them looks, mostly trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

Bruce entered a few minutes later, clearly confused. But when he saw everyone staring at the little girl in Natasha's lap, e sat down in one of the armchairs, waiting to figure out what everyone else seemed to know.

"Alright." Natasha began once everyone was situated. "We'll tell you what you clearly want to know. But the first person who interrupts gets shot. Wherever I deem fit. Understood?"  
Pepper and Steve looked shocked, but they nodded. Tony looked slightly offended, and Bruce just looked confused.

"Ok. This is Sapphire Viktoria Barton. She's 4, she's smart, she's learning to fight, and she's our daughter."  
Natasha gave them a moment to take it all in, impressed that Tony was making crude comments.

Pepper raised her hand slowly, almost afraid of getting shot for the action.  
Natasha chuckled as she nodded at the other redhead.

"Um… are you and Clint married?"

Natasha smiled at Clint before turning back to the rest of the group.

"Yes. We got married 6 years ago."  
"I thought that's when you met." Tony interjected.

Natasha pulled a gun from seemingly nowhere and aimed it between his legs.

"Mommy, don't. He's funny." Sapphie said.

Natasha looked at her daughter and returned her smile. She slowly lowered the gun, but she didn't let go of it.

"Fine, Stark. I won't shoot you in front of my kid. Anyways. No, Clint and I met 13 years ago, when he brought me in. We started dating 4 years after that, and got married 6 years ago. Sapphie was born 4 years ago, and she's the biggest surprise of my life, since I didn't think I'd be allowed to have kids."  
Natasha's voice almost cracked as she pictured what her life would have been like if she'd never married Clint and they'd never had Sapphie. As much as she'd always thought kids were out of the question, thanks to the Red Room, now she found that imagining her life without the little girl was painful.

Clint reached his hand out and grabbed her hand and squeezed tightly, rubbing circles on the back of her hand. Sapphie reached up and took a lock of Natasha's hair and began twisting it. Natasha smiled at the little girl and kissed her head.

"When Tasha and I were split up for our missions, we sent her to our friend, Professor X."  
"The mutant guy?"  
"Yeah."  
"You sent her to his school? I thought only mutants could go there."  
"That's true. Well, and their families too."  
"I'm confused. What's a mutant?" Steve asked.  
"It's someone kind of like yourself. They have powers, sometimes obvious, sometimes not."  
"So if you have to be a mutant or a family member, how did X ok her staying there?"

Bruce was the only one who hadn't spoken, and one look at the scientist told Clint that he understood.

"Is she…?"  
Clint smiled at his daughter and nodded.

"What? Is she what?"  
Natasha sighed at Tony's stupidity. "She's a mutant, Tony."  
"How?" Pepper asked.  
"When I was with the Red Room, they injected me with a serum. A bit like yours, Steve. I was born before World War II, but the serum they gave me slows down my aging. It also allows me to heal more quickly than normal people, but not as fast as Steve and Thor."  
"What does that have to do with her?"  
"She inherited it, or some of it at least. Because of that, she can heal herself, much like our friend Logan."  
"Is that it? Cause I hate to break it to you, kid, but that's not the coolest thing ever, although it is useful." Tony said.

Sapphie looked at her parents, her eyes practically screaming her question. Natasha and Clint nodded at the same time, and Sapphie turned back to the people in front of her.

She closed her eyes and a look of deep concentration crossed her face, making her even more adorable than she already was.

Before their eyes, her dirty blonde hair turned bright red, and her skin paled slightly. When she reopened her eyes, they were the exact same color as Natasha's. Essentially, Sapphie looked exactly like her mother, in miniature.

"Whoa."  
"That was awesome."  
"Incredible."  
"Kid, you've got issues."  
After a brief moment, Clint spoke.

"Saph can change her appearance at will. She can change her skin tone, her hair color, and her eye color. Charles thinks she'd be able to change everything one day, but he's very impressed with her abilities at such a young age."  
"Who else knows?" Steve asked.

"Fury, it was his idea to send her to the school while we were on our missions, so she'd be able to learn how to control it. Coulson, he was there the first time it happened. Hill, because Phil told her everything."  
"That's it?"  
"That we know of."  
They spent the next hour sitting in the living room watching as Sapphie changed her looks over and over again.

By the end of the day, everyone was more used to it, but it was still a bit strange for them to see.

The next few days saw everyone watching as Clint and Natasha taught their daughter how to fight. They'd been right when they said she was smart. She could speak English, Russian, Italian, Spanish, and some German. She understood some of the things Bruce and Tony told her. She never made the same grammatical mistakes twice. And she never made the same mistake on the sparring mat.

Natasha had snuck up behind her and it ended in what would have been a kill, but the next time she'd tried it, Sapphie was ready and turned quickly, landing a punch to Natasha's stomach.

But off the mat, Sapphie was a normal 4 year-old. She liked Pooh Bear and coloring, refused to eat vegetables, except asparagus, carrots, and artichokes.

She liked to dance around, and they soon discovered that she was fairly decent at gymnastics as well.

"So basically," Tony said at the end of the week as they all sat watching Sapphie and Natasha train, "she's a mini assassin."  
"Careful, Tony. They're teaching her how to use a bow in a few months. Don't give them any ideas." Bruce whispered.

* * *

By the end of the month, everyone had gotten used to Sapphie being in the tower, and having her drop out of the vents randomly.

The only member of the team she hadn't met was Thor, who'd been in Asgard. That was fixed, however, when he finally returned.

Thor walked out of the elevator and thanked the 'Tower voice' for taking him to his floor.

"Hi."  
Thor turned around quickly, Mjolnir at the ready.

"Who's there? I am Thor of Asgard. Show yourself."  
Thor thought he was prepared for anything. But the squeak he let out as Sapphie dropped to the floor in front of him proved otherwise.

"Hi. That's a cool hammer, Mr. Thor."  
"Thank you."  
"Aren't ya gonna say hi back? It's p'lite."  
"Of course. Hello."  
Sapphie just stared at him for a moment.

"Who are you, child?"  
"Sapphie."  
"That is a fair name."  
"Thanks. I think."  
"Are you lost, Lady Sapphie?"  
"Nope. I'm allowed to go wherever I want in the Tower. Except people's rooms. I can go to their floors, but not in any of the rooms, unless they 'vite me in."  
"That is a good rule. Who made it?"  
"Mommy and Daddy."  
"And who are your parents, Lady Sapphie."  
"That's a funny thing to say. 'm not a lady. I'm a girl."  
Thor smiled and held out his hand. Sapphie took it and shook.

"My apologies Girl Sapphie."  
"That sounds even funnier! I like you."  
"I believe I like you too. Will you take me to your parents?"  
"Sure."  
Sapphie led him to the elevator and told JARVIS to take them to her family's floor.

She pulled him off the elevator and into the living room.

"Mommy, Daddy!" She called.  
"Saph, remember what we said about yelling inside?" Clint asked as he came out of the kitchen.  
"Sorry."  
Clint smiled at his daughter. "It's ok. Just don't do it again."  
"Hello, warrior Clint."  
"Hey, Thor."  
"Hi, Thor." Natasha said as she entered the living room.  
"Lady Natasha. I found this child in my apartment. She said she'd been given permission to enter anyone's apartments, so long as she stayed out of the rooms."  
"Yeah. Just because chasing her around got old after about a week."  
"Is this child yours?"  
"Yeah. Sapphie's 4."  
"She's a lovely child."  
"Thanks!" Sapphie answered.

Sapphie scampered off to her room while Clint, Natasha, and Thor began talking about random things. When Sapphie reentered, she'd opted for blue hair the same shade as her eyes, and an olive skin tone.

"Oh! Do you have another child?" Thor asked when he saw her.

Natasha turned around and smiled when she caught sight of her daughter.

"No, that's just what she does. Saph, remember, normal hair and eye colors."  
Sapphie sighed, but turned her hair black to complement her skin tone.

"What did she just do? Is that normal for midgardian children?"  
"No, it's not normal. But that's what she does. You'll learn to ignore it eventually." Clint said, smiling at Sapphie as he said the last part.

Thor decided it was a good time to leave their floor, thinking perhaps he needed sleep. As he left, Natasha heard him mutter something about the strange people of Midgard.

"Saph, come on."  
"What?"  
"Dinner. And remember, you're not supposed to confuse people."  
"Sorry. I wanted to know what he'd do."  
Natasha smiled at her daughter as she lifted her onto her barstool in their kitchen.  
As they watched her sleep later that night, back with her normal sapphire colored eyes and dirty blonde hair, Natasha felt her heart break slightly.

"She'll have to go to his school, won't she?"  
"Yeah. But Charles said she' be able to wait until she was in 8th grade. Since she stays with him whenever we have long missions."  
"I'll miss her."  
"Tasha, we've got time."  
"I know."  
Clint leaned down and pressed a kiss to Sapphie's cheek.  
"I love you, Sapphire. Sleep well, my little jewel."  
Natasha kissed her cheek as well and whispered the same thing Clint had said, but in Russian.

Together, they made their way from the room.

"The while team seemed to take it pretty well."  
"I guess. I think Steve's still scared of her though."  
"Well, as Tony put it, 'she's a mini assassin.'"

Natasha smiled at Clint's impression of the billionaire.

"I love you, Clint."  
"I love you too, Tash."  
They kissed softly before making their way to their room where they'd fall asleep in each other's arms.


End file.
